It would be fun to see these updated for modern professions. I'd probably get a hat with six, seven mice dangling from the rim, a keyboard vertically over my sternum, breeches made from pages torn from Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language", and a shirt decorated with Perl sigil plushies.posted by benito.strauss at 10:14 AM on June 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

"I'd probably get a hat with six, seven mice dangling from the rim"

wherein benito.strauss reveals himself to be a housecatposted by idiopath at 11:13 AM on June 21, 2012

Love this. Thanks for posting. I now have ideas for recycling my wardrobe.posted by Isadorady at 12:20 PM on June 21, 2012

Hmm . . I guess this loooooong list is already done by someone else - d'oh! But I'll post this anyway, though I'm not finished. So many strange occupations I can't make out.posted by Listener at 1:07 PM on June 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hah! Lady Skeptic has long had a reproduction of the "Habit de musicien". I've always wondered where that came from!posted by Skeptic at 2:45 PM on June 21, 2012

Well, some of the names are quite old-fashioned, of course, and so is the spelling. A "quincailler" is a hardware merchant. "Maréchal" (usually called "maréchal-ferrant") is indeed a farrier. "Frippier" should be a rag merchant (rags are called "fripes" even today). "Procureur" is more accurately translated as "attorney" rather than lawyer. In modern French, however, it usually designates a prosecutor. And cooper is "tonnelier", not "tonettier".posted by Skeptic at 4:53 AM on June 22, 2012

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